Covering the primary

Ok, you have a lid with an airlock, a lid with tissue or paper towel, or a towel and now Jack Keller with is Raspberry wine recipe says to "Cover primary with plastic wrap secured with a large rubber band".

I'm not sure I understand ..it seems that you want the CO2 to escape, but plastic wrap with a rubber band seems like it would ensure that nothing escapes.

Currently I am using a towel with the lid incredibly loose on top (more to give some weight to the towel while letting gasses escape.

Any insights? Am I doing ok? Should I be trapping everything inside?

(I took a taste after the daily stir (after the first 24 hours with the yeast) and boy it is tasting good!)

most of us use fermenters with lids. i use an airlock with vodka in it to kill nasties trying to get in through the airlock (there has been times when i find fruitflies in the airlock). no worries with vodka in it

You don't need to cover it at all until the fermentation is complete (still releasing co2), but a lot of home winemakers cover them to keep house dust, dog hair, flies, etc. out. With my home stuff, I just set the lid on the bucket and stir the wine once a day, or place a bung (with hole) on the carboy and slosh it once a day. When the wine is dry, I put an airlock on it and wait until it is still. It is all a matter of preference. In the professional world, we don't cover wine during fermentation. We want all the oxygen contact we can get so the yeast don't get stressed out. Professionals keep Nitrogen and Argon on hand to bubble out any residual oxygen after fermentation.

As for the airlock with vodka. It is less necessary than you think. Bugs don't hurt wine, and wine yeast usually eat any invading yeast strains and bacteria during fermentation. Any invaders should be killed off when you stabilize with so2 anyway.

rniles said:

Currently I am using a towel with the lid incredibly loose on top (more to give some weight to the towel while letting gasses escape.

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You're good to go. Depending on what I'm fermenting, most of the time I Just cover my bucket fermeter with a clean towel & secure it with a rubber band; makes it easier to stir & punch the cap. After fruit removal, I always use the plastic lid & an airlock, till I rack to a carbouy & then I always use an airlock. You do indeed want to allow the CO2 to escape, if you don't, pressure will build up, and in the case of the plastic wrap, likely pop it off the bucket.
Regards, GF.